Topping the Chronicle's salary ranking was Arizona State University's president, Michael Crow, who received almost $1.6 million last year. Along with a base salary of $838,000, he received an annual bonus of $150,000 and a 10-year retention bonus of $550,000 paid by the university's private foundation.

Following Crow were the chancellor of the University of Texas System, William McRaven, and the chancellor of the Texas A&M University System, John Sharp.

For the first time, two presidents received base salaries of $1 million or more last year.

McRaven's $1.5 million pay package included a base salary of $1.2 million, and the president of Texas A&M's College Station campus, Michael Young, was paid $1 million that was entirely base pay.

The Chronicle of Higher Education on Wednesday released its annual study of compensation for presidents of public colleges and universities in fiscal year 2016. The survey of more than 150 executives found that average total compensation increased by 5.3 percent over the previous year, to $501,000. Total compensation includes base pay, bonus pay, nontaxable benefits such as medical insurance, deferred compensation, severance pay, and other payments such as vacation leave that was cashed out.

The top 10 earners in fiscal year 2016:

Michael Crow Arizona State University $1,554,058

William McRaven University of Texas System $1,500,000

John Sharp Texas A&M University System $1,280,438

W. Kent Fuchs University of Florida $1,102,862

Michael McRobbie Indiana University System $1,067,074

Eric Barron Pennsylvania State University at University Park $1,039,717

Michael Drake Ohio State University $1,034,574

Michael Young Texas A&M University at College Station $1,000,000

Jean Robillard University of Iowa $929,045 *

Raymond Watts University of Alabama at Birmingham $890,000 **

* Partial-year compensation

** Compensation provided by college for calendar year 2016, not fiscal year 2016